Aman

2011-12-06T04:51:03Z

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{{location
| image=[[Image:Ted Nasmith - The Shores of Valinor.jpg|250px]]
| name=Aman
| othernames=Frequently generalized as [[Valinor]]
| etymology=[[Quenya|Q.]] "Blessed Realm" or "Free from Evil"
| type=Continent
| location=West of [[Belegaer]]
| inhabitants=[[Valar]], [[Vanyar]], [[Noldor]], [[Teleri]]
| realms=
| description=Beautiful realm split by the [[Pelóri]]
| events=[[Flight of the Noldor]], death of the [[Two Trees]]
| references=''[[The Silmarillion]]''
|}}{{Pronounce|Aman.mp3|Ardamir}}
'''Aman''' ("Blessed Realm" or "Free from Evil" in [[Quenya]], pron. {{IPA|[ˈaman]}}) is a continent that lies to the west of [[Middle-earth]], across the great ocean [[Belegaer]]. In ''[[The Hobbit]]'' Tolkien also calls this continent "Faerie in the West". It is the home of the [[Valar]], and three kindreds of [[Elves]]: the [[Vanyar]], some of the [[Noldor]], and some of the [[Teleri]]. The island of [[Tol Eressëa]] lies just off the eastern shore.

Upon the destruction of [[Almaren]] in very ancient times, the Valar fled to Aman, and there established the realm of [[Valinor]].
==Description==
Seeking to isolate themselves, they raised a great mountain fence, called the [[Pelóri]], on the [[Haerast|eastern coast]]; the highest of them was [[Taniquetil]], on the peak of which was the throne of [[Manwë]] and [[Varda]]. They later set the [[Enchanted Isles]] in the ocean to prevent travelers by sea from reaching Aman.

For reasons unknown, the Valar left two lands outside the wall of the Pelóri: [[Araman]] to the northeast and [[Avathar]] to the southeast. [[Ungoliant]], a great spider of unknown origin, had managed to escape notice in Avathar.

Aman was connected to the north with Middle-earth via the narrow straits of the [[Helcaraxe]], a road that was taken by Melkor and later [[Fëanor]] when leaving for [[Beleriand]].

==History==
The [[Elves]] who arrived to Aman in the Years of the Trees were called Amanyar or [[Calaquendi]] because they saw the light of the Two Trees. The Valar opened a cleft between the Pelóri, the [[Calacirya]], so that the Light reached the Elves in their lands and cities, [[Eldamar]], [[Tirion]], [[Alqualondë]] and [[Tol Eressëa]].

After the Exile of Feanor, the [[Noldor]] were not allowed to return to Valinor, and it was hidden from the Mortal lands. The Valar raised the Pelóri more, fortified Calacirya and raised the Enchanted Isles in the [[Shadowy Seas]]. There have been many attempts to reach the Undying Lands from Beleriand by ships, of which only [[Voronwë of Gondolin|Voronwë]] Aranwion survived; it is told that maybe [[Tuor]] was, alone of the mortals, allowed to find Aman before his son [[Eärendil]].

Eärendil was the first known navigator to succeed in passing the [[Isles of Enchantment]], guided by the light of the [[Silmaril]], who came to Valinor to seek the aid of the Valar against Melkor, now called ''Morgoth''. His quest was successful, the Valar went to war again, and also decided to remove the Isles.

After the [[War of Wrath]] and the destruction of Beleriand, Aman was no more connected to Middle-earth by the Helcaraxë but could be reached by the ships of the Elves.

Soon after this, the great island of [[Númenor]] was raised out of Belegaer, close to the shores of Aman, and the Three Houses of the [[Edain]] were brought to live there. Henceforth, they were called the [[Dúnedain]], and were blessed with many gifts by the Valar and the Elves of Tol Eressëa. The Valar feared—rightly—that the [[Númenóreans]] would seek to enter Aman to gain immortality (even though a mortal in Aman remains mortal), so they forbade them from sailing west of the westernmost promontory of Númenor. In time, and not without some corrupting help from [[Sauron]], the Númenóreans violated the [[Ban of the Valar]], and sailed to Aman with a great army under the command of [[Ar-Pharazôn]] the Golden. The Valar collapsed a part of the Pelóri on this army, trapping it but not killing it. It is said that the army still lives underneath the pile of rock.

In light of this new development, the Valar decided to again isolate themselves from the other lands by a decisive method. The flat [[Arda]] was cloven in two, and made the rest round, so that a mariner sailing west along Eärendil's route would simply emerge in the far east. For the Elves, however, they crafted a [[Straight Road]] that peels away from the curvature of the earth and passes to Aman. A very few non-Elves are known to have passed along this road, including [[Frodo Baggins]], [[Bilbo Baggins]], and possibly [[Samwise Gamgee]] and [[Gimli]].

==Etymology==
Aman derives from the [[sundocarmë]] A-[[MAN]] through the Intensification of its [[sundóma]]. From the same root also comes the name ''[[Manwë]]''.

Aman was also called the Ancient West, Blessed Realm and the Undying Lands or just [[Valinor]]. In [[Adûnaic]] it was called ''Thâni anAmân'' or ''[[Amatthâni]]''.

==Immortality==
There has been some debate whether the protagonists who sailed in the West became immortal or not. [[Robert Foster]] in his foreword to ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth]]'' says that he did not provide death dates for those characters "for they still live". In reality, the Undying Lands were called like that because immortals dwelled in them, not because they granted immortality, something which becomes clear in the ''[[Akallabêth]]''.

{{references}}

==External links==
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/History.html#MortalsWest Did Frodo and the other mortals who passed over the Sea eventually die?]
[[Category:Aman| ]]
[[Category:Quenya Locations]]

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Aman